Georgian, Azerbaijani FMs Talk David Gareji

Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said he discussed the issue of David Gareji Monastery Complex with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, during the May 5 visit to Baku alongside Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

Both sides are ready to continue delimitation talks to decide the “problematic topics” as soon as possible, the Georgian FM stated, referring to the parts of the revered monastery which are located on the undefined boundaries of the Georgia-Azerbaijani border.

Besides the issue, FM Zalkaliani discussed with his Azerbaijani colleague the region’s development, post-pandemic economic recovery and trilateral cooperation with Turkey, the Georgian Foreign Ministry’s press service reported.

FM Bayramov informed FM Zalkaliani “about the new realities in the region” following the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of 2020 and existing opportunities for cooperation, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry stated on its part.

The issue of Georgia-Azerbaijan border delimitation was again brought to the forefront in October 2020, following the detention of two former state experts Iveri Melashvili and Natalia Ilychova in the controversial “Cartographer’s Case” investigation over attempts of land-ceding to Azerbaijan. The matter also came into a sharp focus in April 2019, when Azerbaijani border guards restricted access to the parts of the David Gareji Monastery.

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